list.co.uk/festival Schaffer sitting in a bus shelter on his own you would probably call social services. But a twinkle in his eye gives away his true character. This is a performance piece that is very believable and his delightfully vulnerable awkwardness makes him so endearing that the crowd can’t help but come along for the ride as he talks about modern problems through the eyes of a senior comic. (Graeme Connelly) Just the Tonic at The Community Project, 0330 220 1212, until 30 Aug, 5.35pm, £5 (£3; family ticket £14). Luke Mcqueen: Double Act ●●●●● McQueen has cultivated an embittered and unhinged persona with a confrontational attitude towards both the audience and reviewers and seemingly no concept of going too far. The opening set piece unleashes a torrent of aggression and his dead-eyed glare suggests no one is safe. The ostensible theme of the show is McQueen’s anger and hurt at the betrayal of his previous comedy partner Jack Whitehall, but after so much hype about his malevolence, Double Act proves relatively benign. (Suzanne Black) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 9.45pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£7–£9). Matt Winning: Mugabe And Me (3d) ●●●●● Pretending to be Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s son (a risky move that lands just shy of offensive) allows him to move from segments on an African gap year to corruption in FIFA to Top Gear presenters in a way that makes narrative sense. He even manages to work in a game show, a poem and, most unbelievably, reads out internet comments in a way that doesn’t imply he was too lazy to write his own material. (Suzanne Black) Opium, 226 0000, until 29 Aug, 3.45pm, free. Michael J Dolan: Miserable Guts ●●●●● The self-effacing misanthrope presents a pitch black take on the world, enumerating the horrors of a universe that allows child murders and sex offenders, as well as the mundane travesties of the property ladder, consumer ethics, relationship ennui and society’s terrible attitude towards mental health problems. Although he shares Bill Hicks’ dissatisfaction with the world, he has none of his revolutionising zeal. Instead, he resembles Frankie Boyle’s utter contempt with the universe mixed with Bernard Black’s furious apathy. (Suzanne Black) The Stand 4, 558 7272, until 30 Aug, 4.50pm, £8 (£7). Mid-Brow ●●●●● Why aim high when you can instead lower your sights to mediocrity? That’s the self-professed plan by sketch duo Mid-Brow, who say they’ve spotted a gap in the market. But they make a mediocre job of being mediocre to create something pretty damn good. The pair steers a clear course through the waters of sketch comedy, lampooning their targets but staying one step ahead of expectations, deconstructing their own analyses between sketches. (Emma Newlands) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31 Aug (not 24), 4.45pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8). Minor Delays ●●●●● Minor Delays return after last year’s highly regarded debut, with their format honed and their high-energy, often deeply maudlin sketch comedy in fine shape. Facing the audience and away from each other, it’s immediately clear just how fine-tuned the performance is, many sketches relying on almost telepathic synchronisation. What the three make from little more than facial expressions and the audience’s imagination is breathtaking. (Dave Coates) Gilded Balloon, 622 6552, until 30 Aug, 4.15pm, £8–£10 (£6–£8). Moby Alpha ●●●●● Though they wear their literary and sci-fi references with pride, you don’t need to have read Moby Dick or seen a heap of sci-fi to enjoy this magical show from Seattle-based duo, Charles. According to the old Gregorian calendar, the year is 2984 and Captain Ahab has lost his leg (it’s been replaced by a better one but that’s not the point) to
Reviews at a Glance | FESTIVAL COMEDY
Mid-Brow
an energy cloud called Moby Alpha and he’s hell-bent on revenge. The production is a witty, postmodern take on the story. (Marissa Burgess) Assembly George Square Studios, 623 3030, until 31 Aug (not 24), 4.10pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Omar Handi: In The Valleys Of The Kings ●●●●● Welsh-Egyptian Hamdi tries so hard in this debut show, filling us in on his upbringing, his absent father, his first visit to Egypt, his absent father, his clinginess with girls, his crisis of masculinity, his lack of role models, his absent father. You get the idea. Dysfunction and awkwardness could be the makings of a decent set if he veered away from the more hackneyed comedy tropes. (Claire Sawers) Assembly George Square Studios, 623 3030, until 30 Aug, 10.20pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Phil Mann: Hydrophobia ●●●●● Mann’s unafraid to embrace the oddball in his work and this is no exception as he shares his worst sexual moments and how he was sent back to kill Hitler. There are plenty of bad puns strewn about and he’s damning about reality TV. Not all in the room go with him and there are some awkward moments as Mann moves through his crowd asking them if they think they’re good at sex. (Marissa Burgess) Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, 524 1989, until 29 Aug (not 24), 3.30pm, free. Phil Wang: Philth ●●●●● As part of sketch trio Daphne, Wang has found a complementary outlet for his deadpan stage presence. When he’s the only thing to focus on, it can feel as though the life is being sucked out of a room, even if he does offer some enjoyable material about his low-energy delivery. Wang is after love and seems content to have found an ‘OK’ girlfriend. You wouldn’t really expect him to be any more enthusiastic than that. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 6pm, £8.50–£10 (£7–£9). Pierre Novellie Is Anxious Peter ●●●●● This nominally centres around the comic’s mental health. His means of managing insomnia and a distinctly niche study of medieval culture serve as a way of trying to understand what, exactly, it’s all about. Novellie is a huge, beaming bear of a man, and the show moves from ‘here’s why I’m weird’ to ‘here’s why we’re all weird’ almost imperceptibly, and it’s clear from his flawlessly bumbling delivery that not a word is wasted. (Dave Coates) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 9.30pm, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£9). Pun-Man’s Pun Party ●●●●● Yes, it’s shambolic. Yes, there are groans mixed in with the laughs, but somehow it all works. Leo Kearse’s claim that he can pun on any subject is demonstrably false, but the sheer number of them ensures enough hits to outweigh the misses. Despite claiming to eschew observational material, he sprinkles it among the one-liners and, with an extended bit about trains, manages to be improbably hilarious about a mundane topic. (Suzanne Black) Frankenstein Pub, 226 0000, until 30 Aug (not 24), 8.30pm, free. Rhys James: Remains ●●●●● Another semi-laddish comedian with the right amount of sensitivity in his armoury, James cracks wisely about the real meaning behind some clothing brands, why comedians are just as brave as firefighters and the pain and struggle he hasn’t experienced on the way to playing a sweaty container like this. A film which neatly references almost every routine in the show draws matters to a close. Charming but a little forgettable. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 4.45pm, £8–£11 (£7–£9.50). Rodney Bewes: Whatever Happened To The Likely Lad? ●●●●● The artist formerly known as half of The Likely Lads brings us an autobiographical one-man show. He’s an impish raconteur, clearly delighted to be back on stage and meanders, glass of red wine in hand, through tales of his Yorkshire childhood to Hollywood, with starry stories of luvvie encounters with Sir Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier and Raquel Welsh. (Claire Sawers) Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, until 30 Aug, 4pm, £10 (£9). Sean Mcloughlin: Whatever It Takes ●●●●● Quite how this wild-eyed comedy loon is not a bigger name remains something of a mystery. McLoughlin has passion, jokes and a (often scary) presence on his side and here puts it all to expert use for his own story which starts by retelling his forced relocation from Brighton and ends with a collapse in faith. And there’s a terrifically bad Borat impression halfway through. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 8.15pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£8–£9). Sofie Hagen: Bubblewrap ●●●●● The Danish comedian introduces this as a ‘personal show’ and she’s not kidding. Over the hour, she covers stories of urophilia, self-harming, petty theft and depression, yet it’s a testament to her bubbly disposition that this is an unwaveringly upbeat, if not hilarious show. Whether she’s fantasising about having sex with Westlife or imagining a gay tryst between its members, every time Hagen reaches for her book of stories the audience’s enthusiasm for the
next tale is palpable. (Murray Robertson) Liquid Room Annexe, 226 0000, until 31 Aug, 7.10pm, free. Steve Hall: Zebra ●●●●● The former We Are Klang guy with the ‘boring face and boring voice’ (his words) is on fine form with an hour effectively concerning how to avoid being a terrible father. As you’d imagine, he doesn’t always succeed in that venture and the tales of family portraits going horribly awry is quite hysterical. (Brian Donaldson) The Stand 6, 558 7272, until 30 Aug, 6.35pm, £8 (£7). Stewart Francis: Pun Gent ●●●●● One of the Fringe’s big TV draws, on this night Francis attracts an enthusiastic audience eagerly anticipating his entrance. He has written a solid if unspectacular hour filled to the brim with gags, though some take a bit too long to set up before deflating with a predictable punchline. But like all the best short-joke comedians, Francis has so many gags up his sleeve that you’re never too far from a corker. (Murray Robertson) Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, until 30 Aug, 8.10pm, £15 (£13). Susie Mccabe: The Drugs Don’t Work ●●●●● If you went on a night out with McCabe she’d probably lead you astray. In a show that recognises cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, gambling and even certain foods as vices, she’s adept at describing their enjoyment. She’s brilliant when angry, whether it be about her wife pausing the news or her brother’s blatant cheating at Subbuteo and her impassioned rants make for hilarious delivery. (Rowena McIntosh) The Stand 4, 558 7272, until 30 Aug, 7.10pm, £8 (£7). Tats Nkonzo: The African With Wifi ●●●●● From the very second he comes on stage Nkonzo is entertaining. Smiling and interacting with the audience in between songs, he serenades girls with an excellent singing voice. Don’t worry, there are jokes as well, his material all about drawing attention to our preconceptions about Africa. There’s nothing extraordinary in the subject matter, but it’s nice to see it done with a fresh approach and the style which he performs is captivating. (Graeme Connelly) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 9.30pm, £8–£10.50 (£7–£9.50). Tom Neenan: The Andromeda Paradox ●●●●● Previously one half of the Gentlemen of Leisure alongside Nish Kumar, Neenan gave us a spooky tale last year, and for 2015 he’s dipped ostensibly into sci-fi for an enjoyable romp about a boffin son escaping his pioneering father’s lengthy shadow. Neenan expertly embodies his many characters as evidence of potential alien lifeforms kicks off a comedic mystery. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 6.40pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Twisted Loaf Present Stale Mate ●●●●● If last year’s show was Half Baked, this year’s is fully fried. Like French and Saunders after some bad acid, Nina Smith and Libby Northedge delight in the strangeness of their character comedy, but the audience isn’t always so enthralled. The bared boobs, pregnant pauses and deliberately awkward audience interactions can’t float the show through weaker moments and when it’s bad, it gets pretty painful. (Claire Sawers) Just the Tonic at The Caves, 0330 220 1212, until 29 Aug, 5pm, £8 (£7). Will Mars: Outspoken White Guy ●●●●● This is an hour of unpleasant, often offensive material, most of which Mars has used in previous shows. He attempts to make jokes about race and gender that reveal how unprejudiced he is but the rest of the material gives the opposite impression. What is meant to be a barnstorming crescendo – a monologue about relationships – elicits a weak response. He implies that this is character comedy, an ironic persona, but nothing in the material or the delivery bears this out. (Suzanne Black) Laughing Horse @ City Café, 220 0125, until 30 Aug, 6.45pm, free. 20–31 Aug 2015 THE LIST FESTIVAL 53